Simon Jordan blasts Rangers board after Michael Beale sack as Celtic ‘far better’, as Jim White agrees Ibrox chiefs ‘too petty’
Simon Jordan has blamed the Rangers board for being worse than their Celtic counterparts and for being caught up on “nonsense”, after the sacking of Michael Beale with the team seven points adrift of their rivals.
The talkSPORT pundit spoke live on the station on 2 October pointing the finger at the Ibrox hierarchy for Celtic being “far better” on the pitch despite producing “the same sort of financial outcomes”.
The former Crystal Palace chairman cited “small-mindedness” from what he has seen when attending a past Old Firm derby with Jim White, who himself agreed the outlook was “too petty”.
White asked (2m 8s): “Do you think they’ve still got the draw to get a person like that, a very significant individual in the dug-out?”
“I don’t see why not,” Jordan replied. “Ultimately, Celtic are producing the same sort of financial outcomes as Rangers yet their team is far better on the pitch.
“And why is that? I suspect because their boardroom is better. Because, with respect, come on look at some of the nonsense we’ve seen from Rangers. We sat in that boardroom when they played away to Celtic and the silly arguments about which shirt sponsor is going to go on the front of their shirts because the owners of Rangers own a car franchise.”
“It’s too petty, exactly,” said White.
“That sort of small-mindedness,” Jordan continued. “I felt to myself, this is not a club that’s being led from the front, this is a club that’s running alongside itself and living on former glories.”
Yes and no
The Rangers board, in its current iteration and the former, cannot claim to have got it right with Beale after the 43-year-old lasted less than a year, didn’t win a trophy and only came out on top in one Old Firm game when the pressure was off.
He and they must share the blame for his tenure, after he was given major responsibility at Ibrox and then found wanting.
But the Light Blues hierarchy have arguably been vindicated in certain disputes where they have been out on their own, winning their argument against the cinch sponsorship [Sky Sports, 14 July] and arguing against the Sky Sports TV deal [Daily Record, 22 September] which is still regularly highlighted as an issue.
So arguably their “small-mindedness” has been justified on occasion, but it doesn’t detract from the fact that on getting the club itself back to the top in Scotland they have proven to be inadequate.
That said, a more extensive budget than had been feared was produced this summer to back the manager which is theoretically a positive, but while it is easy with hindsight it is now clear that allowing that man to be Beale and giving him such responsibility was a key mistake.
At the time of his appointment it was thought that Beale was Ross Wilson’s man and that some at Ibrox weren’t convinced, so it looks like the wrong voices won out.
This time around they surely need to be united behind an option that has experience and isn’t the same sort of risk, having now been badly burned in letting a major opportunity to close the gap on Celtic this summer to slide by.
In other Rangers news, a former player Beale got rid of has reacted to news of his sacking.